In northern China, families generally eat savoury dumplings as they are shaped like gold ingots and will therefore increase your chances of getting rich in the coming year.

However, in southern China, people generally eat glutinous rice balls, which have a sweet filling, at midnight as their round shape and sticky exterior signifies reunion and families sticking together.

7. Not eating your fish properly

(Picture: Getty)

Fish is one of the staples of the Chinese New Year banquet as it’s considered a lucky food.

The character sounds like the one for ‘leftover’ so having fish at CNY each year means you’ll always have abundance in your life.

But have you ever wondered why fish is almost always served whole, heads and tails and all, in a Chinese restaurant?

It’s supposed to signify that things have a start (the head) and a finish (the tail).

This is probably not going to work (Picture: Getty)

So if you’re serving up a CNY feast, make sure your fish has both.

But that’s not all.

While you’re eating the fish, you should never flip it over to get to the meat on the other side, especially if you’re a fisherman, because it signifies a boat being flipped over.

Instead, once you’ve reached the bone in the middle, you should lift up the whole spine to get at the meat underneath.

Never finish your fish though because you know, you have to have leftovers for luck and prosperity.

8. Having a quiet night in

Make sure you celebrate with family and friends (Picture: Getty)

Now, I’m not suggesting that you should host a rave but CNY, like Christmas, is a time for family.

That means having everyone gathered together to see the end of this year and the beginning of the next – and obviously stuffing your face with food as part of the celebration.

It’s no small wonder that with this mentality in mind, travel is always at a virtual stand-still in China during this period.

Imagine waiting for a train like the thousand other people in the station (Picture: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

While the entertainment might vary from family to family (within China you might watch the annual CCTV Chinese New Year gala for example), there would traditionally be fireworks being set off at midnight to drive off the nian, a mythical monster that comes calling at this time of the year.

Failing that, a toast or two with some strong baijiu (Chinese rice spirit) will do just as well.